Homecoming
by L0stDreamer
Summary: After years of being lost in reality, Torchwood Belfast resurfaces with an unexpected leader and a compelling new case. COE fix-it with OCs, Janto, slash and femslash. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
1. The Shift

A/N: This is my vision of what a possible future series of Torchwood could be (not the new one, as we all know it takes place in America) so I've tried to stay as close to canon as possible. It's a COE fix-it that deals with Torchwood IV, which is located in Belfast (my logic was that the other three are each in the largest city of their respective region of the United Kingdom, and for Northern Ireland that's Belfast). I try to avoid OCs whenever possible because of the problems that come with them, but I had to create some to flesh out the Torchwood IV team. Hopefully I did a good job.

Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Martha/Mickey, Rhys/Gwen, as well as some tension between my OCs. You'll probably spot the beginnings of it in this chapter.

Warnings: I'm going to keep this story T, so there won't be anything explicit. Perhaps some implications (This _is_ Torchwood) and swearing (also typical Torchwood).Oh, and there's slash. But if you don't like that, then why the heck do you watch Torchwood?

Also, I'm an American. I'll try to use local grammar and slang, but please forgive me if I misuse it. Better yet, write a review telling me! :D

Disclaimer: If I owned Torchwood, CoE fix-its wouldn't be necessary.

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><p>Chapter One: The Shift<p>

It was almost innocuous at first, the strange humming that permeated Torchwood IV's headquarters from the bowels of the basement laboratories to the flat rooftop. The hum grew in intensity until all that could be heard within (and for several hundred yards without) was an unearthly whine.

Then it happened.

Aoife felt it first. Her fingers froze in their typing as she muttered, almost too low for Dr. Shreya Patel to hear:

"It's happening again."

"What's happening again?" Shreya asked.

When she received no reply, Shreya abandoned her report to move closer (perhaps too close) to Aoife.

"Aoife, what's happening again?"

Aoife looked at her with something like but not quite fear in her eyes.

"It's the shift."

As soon as she said it the room seemed to jolt, sending the two women careening to the floor. The doctor broke the older woman's fall, catching her in her arms as she fell too, ending up beneath Aoife on the floor. As soon as it had started it stopped, and the two of them lay there flushed and panting as the alarms blared.

"You alright?" Shreya managed once her heart rate had slowed.

"Yes, thank you," Aoife replied, shaken.

Just as Shreya seemed ready to say something else, she was interrupted by the clatter of feet on the metal staircase descending from their leader's office. Before the doctor could fully process what had happened, Aoife had stood up and was brushing herself off and their leader stood at the foot of the staircase.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked with a hint of panic.

"All in one piece, sir," Shreya replied, standing up and adjusting her lab coat.

"For the last time, _please_ don't call me sir, Shreya. Does anybody know what just happened?"

"It was the shift." Aoife murmured, her eyes still far away.

"Aoife, what does that mean?" He asked, his voice softer.

Aoife turned toward their leader, her eyes snapping into focus. "All those things that the rift's been taking and spitting out…they've been getting bigger and bigger. Now it's taken _us_."

The team was silent for a moment, trying to grasp what it had just learned. Finally, their leader steeled himself for the inevitable.

"Well then, let's figure out where we are."

Team in tow, he went to the secret wall hatch that opened into their antique store cover, pushing it open. The trio crept with an almost sacred silence through the deserted shop to the front door, which chimed as it opened and they exited the shop.

The leader looked around. At first glance, all seemed as it should be. The bar with the burnt-out sign was still across the street and Windsor House could be seen towering in the distance. But rather than appear in a flash of blue light, people _walked_ down the street. This was a world without teleport, a world where people didn't have vaporizers at their hips, a world where aliens where still the stuff of conspiracy theories and only occasional reality. This was the world where four years ago, he had died.

A comforting hand on his shoulder jarred him from his thoughts. He turned and saw Aoife beaming at him.

"Welcome home, Ianto Jones."

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><p>AN: Constructive criticism is much appreciated! Thank you for reading!

Also, I'd like some feedback on the title. I'm not overly fond of it, so if you have any better ideas, please let me know.


	2. Contact

A/N: Yay for new chapters!

This one will deal more with Torchwood 3 and the new team. Yes, I'm including Gwen in this story. I don't like her character, though I do feel that she was better during CoE, so we won't see much of her. I wanted to write Gwen as a decent human being for this story and save the Gwen-bashing for another. Also, I wanted this story to stick to canon somewhat, and I know that Gwen (whether we like it or not) would definitely be in a future series of Torchwood. However, since I know that I wouldn't be able to write her for more than a few chapters without at least some subtle jibes, I'm not including her nearly as much as RTD would. I've also included Lois, who didn't really impress me as a character, but since Gwen offered her a job I figured she'd have a place on the new Torchwood 3 team.

Also, I'm floored by the number of alerts this story has gotten. Thank you so much!

Disclaimer: If I owned Torchwood, do you think I'd still be writing this?

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><p>Chapter Two: Contact<p>

It was just after lunch when the communiqué came in. The translation program that Lois had been running vanished, only to be replaced by the face of a woman. Lois judged her to be in her mid-forties, and while the years showed in the lines on her face and sorrow in her grey eyes, she looked good for her age, her hair still more red than grey. She began to speak in an Irish lilt full of urgency.

"This is Torchwood Four calling Torchwood Two. "

Lois was flabbergasted. Sure, everyone on the team had heard Jack's story about Torchwood Four, but no one had actually _believed_ it.

The voice jarred her from her state of shock.

"Repeat, this is Torchwood Four, Officer 407 Aoife MacDonald calling Torchwood Two. Torchwood Two, do you copy?"

Finally, Lois turned her webcam on and answered.

"This is Torchwood Three, Officer 667 Lois Habiba. Torchwood Two is offline at the moment due to its staff taking some…personal time." (Archie had decided to take a two week holiday in Spain without so much as a moment's notice, much to Jack's displeasure.)

This appeared to confuse Aoife MacDonald and for a moment she left her desk. Lois could hear a conversation in the background, but couldn't make out any words, only Aoife's lilt, deep Welsh vowels and a female voice with a London accent. Aoife returned quickly.

"Is something wrong, Mrs. MacDonald?" Lois asked politely.

"Oh, heavens! Don't call me Missus. Me? Married? That'll be the day," Aoife laughed with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "And no, it's just that…we didn't expect to communicate with Cardiff."

"Well we didn't exactly expect to communicate with you," Lois replied with a smile.

Aoife smiled in return. "I could understand that. It's been years since we've had any contact with this dimension."

"And what is your reason for this contact?" Lois asked.

"To reestablish relations with Torchwood…and to request urgent and immediate assistance."

This didn't entirely shock Lois. "What for?"

"Cardiff has its rift. We have ours. That's what made us disappear, and now it's made us reappear. It's been getting more and more out of hand, and if we don't do something soon, the entire city, or worse, could face the same fate. There are only three of us, and we can't do this on our own," she looked pleadingly through the camera at Lois. "Please, Lois."

Lois nodded gravely. "I'll speak with my boss and we'll contact you later."

Aoife smiled with relief. "Thank you."

Shutting her webcam off, Lois made her way through the rebuilt Hub to its leader's office. According to the second-in-command, Gwen Cooper-Williams, and the team medic, Dr. Martha Jones-Smith, with whom she had become great friends, it was very similar to the one that existed before the incident with the 456. The Tourist Office front was apparently much improved as they had hired someone specifically to manage it, and it was on the whole "less grimy" than its predecessor, according to Martha.

Lois found Captain Jack Harkness doing what he did best; brooding while neglecting his paperwork. If it were at all possible his eyes seemed centuries sadder than they had at their first meeting.

"Jack," she addressed him, seeming almost to startle him from his reverie "We've received an urgent communiqué."

"If its UNIT, tell them to get their own people on it. They've certainly got enough," Jack replied, shuffling the papers on his desk like a child would push a piece of liver around his dinner plate.

"It's not UNIT, sir," Lois replied.

Jack appeared genuinely surprised. "Then who is it?"

"Torchwood Four."

Jack's shock doubled. When he was able to regain his composure, he spoke.

"What did they say?"

"They need help, and fast. According to the woman I spoke to Belfast could be at stake, or worse."

"Their rift was always worse than ours, if you can believe it," he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "That's what started this whole mess. I'll call a staff meeting and we'll decide where to go from there."

Five minutes later the team sat around the conference table, Jack at the head, Lois at his side. Martha and Mickey, the medic's weapons expert husband, sat side by side, just like always, and at the opposite end of the table sat Gwen.

Like Jack, Gwen too had changed since the 456, except Jack didn't have baby fat that refused to go away no matter how hard he exercised (or at least he hadn't since the team had known him).Her eyes had grown older and sadder too, though not as much as Jack's.

Once everyone was settled in, Jack told Lois to play back her conversation with Aoife on the monitor, as all Torchwood communiqués were recorded. Watching intently, he started during Aoife's off-screen conversation, and Gwen could be seen to shift slightly in her seat.

"Jack, is something wrong?" Martha asked, her voice full of concern.

"N-no, it's-it's nothing," the captain replied with an uncharacteristic stutter.

The group was silent for a moment after the recording ended.

"An' I always thought that Torchwood Four story o' yours was a lie," Mickey mused.

"Got a little more respect for me now, don't you, Mickey?" Jack said with a smirk.

"I didn't say that, jus' that yeh don't _always_ lie," Mickey replied defensively, Martha stifling giggles.

"Alright. Now that we've all agreed that this is _true_, I'm going to Belfast. Who's coming with me?"

The table was silent.

"Martha?" Jack asked.

Martha gave an affirmative nod. "Yes, sir."

"You're not in UNIT anymore, Dr. Jones-Smith," Jack said with a smile "but thank you."

Martha turned to her husband. "You sure you'll be alright?" She asked.

"Don't you worry, love, I'll manage, s'long as the capt'n don't try nothin'." Mickey replied with a smirk.

"Don't you worry, Mickey, I don't plan to."

By the end of the day, everything was in place. Plane tickets were bought, and Jack and Martha would leave in the morning. Lois spoke to Aoife to confirm that two officers were being sent the following day, for which she was thanked profusely.

Neither officer knew how great an impact this meeting would have.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Please review telling me what you think.


	3. Resurrection

A/N: Hi, guys! Sorry if this chapter had a longer wait than the last one, but it was tough to write. It deals more with Ianto's back story and had to be divided into two parts, as this first part is a bit on the long side. I also had to rework some of the plot after I realized a MAJOR fault in my original idea for this chapter. But that's fixed now!

There are more OCs in this chapter. Sorry if that bothers you, but the Torchwood Four team needed fleshing out, and they'll move the plot along later on.

Also, thank you so much for adding/favoriting this story! And while I hate to ask for something when I've been given more than I expected, reviews would be nice, too ;)

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><p>Chapter 3: Resurrection<p>

The death of Ianto Jones was no small affair, as could be said for that of any Torchwood officer. A funeral was given, arranged by his sister with the help of Gwen Cooper-Williams. Of course, the coffin that was lowered into the ground on that warm summer day was empty.

Where Ianto's body _did_ go was a matter of some concern. Given the current state of the Torchwood 3 Hub and the lack of vault space at Torchwood 2, Torchwood had no place for him, leaving the job to UNIT, who decided to keep him at one of their storage facilities in Belfast until the Torchwood 3 Hub was rebuilt with its own space for the dead.

That is, he was kept there until the rift decided to take him.

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><p><strong>24 July 2009<strong>

The alert had come from an unused warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Cameron Ross and Dr. Megan Dunne went in expecting rift junk like a broken microwave or Tyrenian baby rattle.

What they didn't expect to find was a young man in a hospital gown, to all appearances dead.

After checking the young man's vitals and finding none, the medic pronounced him dead.

"We should take him back to HQ and do an autopsy," Cameron said, and Megan agreed.

The drive back to headquarters was uneventful enough, with the body in the backseat still (apparently) dead. What the two people in the front seat didn't see, however, was a plume of silvery dust emitted from the young man's mouth.

What happened back at headquarters was another story.

Megan had laid the body out on the autopsy table and was about to begin the procedure when the monitors indicated something very off.

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><p>The first thing Ianto remembered was pain. Pain worse than anything he'd ever felt in his life. Then there were voices, distant at first, then clearer. Until he heard a woman timidly announce "Cameron, there's a heartbeat."<p>

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><p>The entire team was immediately at attention. Before anyone could inquire further, the man gave a rattling gasp, his blue eyes shooting open as his back arched and he threw back his head.<p>

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><p>With her words, Ianto felt himself jerk into life, gasping for breath as his memories resurged into his mind. When the resurrection was complete, he took in his surroundings. He was sitting on an operating table of sorts, not unlike Owen's autopsy table at the Hub, dressed in one of the gowns that Torchwood froze their dead in. Surrounding him were two men and three women, all of them appearing to be middle aged, none of them anyone that Ianto actually knew. He was immediately on guard.<p>

* * *

><p>"I haven't seen anything like it since..." Cameron murmured, but was cut off by the man on the examination table.<p>

"Where's Jack?" He asked, a hint of panic in his voice, which the team noted had a Welsh accent. His eyes darted around him nervously. "Who are you? And where am I? If this is another one of Frobisher's tricks..."

Megan stepped forward, putting a caring hand on his shoulder and shushing him gently, almost maternally. "It's not a trick, love. You're safe with us. There's nowhere safer in Belfast than Torchwood Four." This last remark caused smirks from several team members and a look of wide-eyed surprise from the young man.

"T-Torchwood Four?" He stuttered uncharacteristically before quickly regaining his composure. "So it _is _real."

Megan frowned slightly. "Why, of course it's real, just look at us!"

The man gave a smile that seemed more like a grimace "Well, I see it now, but where I come from you just...disappeared."

Comprehension dawned on the team then. "So you're from our world, then? God be praised!" said a woman with a London accent, relieved. "We haven't had contact in years. Tell me, is Elizabeth still Queen?"

Cameron rolled his eyes at her. "There will be plenty of time for useless questions later, but right now we need to ask the important ones." He turned to Ianto, who had noticed the man's Scottish burr. "So, who are you?" he asked calmly but in a firm voice.

"Jones. Ianto Jones," he replied, torn between laughing and crying as he remembered the last time he'd introduced himself as such. "And who are you?"

Cameron smirked. "All right, a question for a question. I'm Cameron Ross, the leader of Torchwood Four. This is Dr. Megan Dunne, our medic," he said, nodding to the woman who had comforted Ianto. "That's Ryan Brennan , the team weapons expert," he indicated a burly man with several day's accumulation of red stubble, who nodded. "Charlotte Smith, our computer expert," a woman with cropped black hair waved, the one who'd asked about the Queen. "And Aoife MacDonald, support officer," a woman with short red hair waved timidly.

"I just do whatever they need done," she said humbly.

"And she does it all while looking _gorgeous_," Megan added with a wink at Aoife, who blushed.

"Save it," Cameron barked, but not without a smirk. "Next question. Since you know about us, you must have worked for Torchwood or UNIT or some government office, is that right?"

"Torchwood Three, sir," Ianto's face darkened slightly. "But that's gone now. And London, too."

The group was aghast.

"What? But... how?" Charlotte asked.

Ianto proceeded to tell of Canary Wharf, occasionally tearing up to the point that he would have to pause for a moment to regain his composure. Then he told the team about the last four days of his life.

When he had finished, the group was silent.

"Ianto, I'm so sorry," Megan breathed.

Ianto grimaced, his face lowered. "Me, too." Then he looked up at the team, asking "But what about you lot? Why did you disappear? And where exactly are we?"

The group seemed hesitant for a moment before Cameron finally spoke up.

"Cardiff has a space-time rift, right?" He asked.

"Yeah," Ianto replied.

"Well... Belfast's got its own rift, too. Except ours is a reality rift. Stuff from other, parallel universes comes through it, and stuff from our universe gets sucked in. That's what happened to us. And that's what happened to you."

Ianto was silent for a moment, trying to take it all in. Not only was he dead to his world, but he was trapped in another universe. He thought about Rhi, about Mica and David and Johnny (the daft sod), about Gwen and Rhys, about _Jack_...

Finally, he could speak. "Is there any way..."

"We've tried everything," Cameron replied, an apologetic note in his voice. "But our rift is completely random, much like yours. The only way we'll ever get back is if it sucks us back in again, and Lord knows when that will be."

"So... how long have you lot been here, then? Jack never specified that." Ianto asked after another silence.

"About twenty years, now," Aoife replied.

Ianto gaped, shocked. "You mean you've been stuck her for twenty years? And you haven't hired anyone?"

"No, but we've lost quite a few people," Cameron replied, and the team appeared to sober slightly. "What you see here is about half of what we started with."

Ianto appeared to think for a moment before he spoke again. "I would never want to replace any of your friends, but I'd be willing to help. I can update you on everything that's happened since you disappeared back home, not to mention I was an archivist at Torchwood One before I... transferred."

Cameron thought for a moment before smiling slightly. "I suppose something could be arranged. Seeing as you came through the rift, you are under our jurisdiction, and it would be much easier to keep tabs on you if you worked for us." He held out his hand to Ianto, who grasped it in a firm handshake.

"Welcome to Torchwood Four, Ianto Jones."

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><p>AN: Thanks so much for reading! I know this chapter only deals with one night, but I'm going to try and cram four years into the next one. Wish me luck! Oh and review. Please.


	4. Mortality

A/N: I am sooo sorry for the wait, guys! This past week I had finals so this fic was on the back burner, but now school's out, leaving me more time to write! :D

I'm sorry, but I lied last chapter when I said that there would be four years in this one. There's only 15 months, as that was all I could cram in. But I promise that after the next chapter we'll back in the present!

So, thanks once again for favoriting/ subscribing to/reviewing my story! Please continue to do the latter!

Disclaimer: If I owned Torchwood, do you think that Ianto would need resurrecting?

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><p>Chapter 4: Mortality<p>

Ianto soon found out that in this new world it was no secret that aliens are among us. Without Torchwood, UNIT or the Doctor, the police and government were left to deal with extraterrestrial problems, and since they had to manage this on top of everything else, the secret had not remained a secret for very long. Still, this made the police all the more grateful when Torchwood appeared, and they quickly agreed to add Torchwood to their payroll- which was a blessing for Torchwood, as the crown was no longer there to pay them (this world's United Kingdom had no monarchy, only a Parliament). Also, this world had recently discovered teleportation technology, but being that it was very new most people didn't trust it and still drove to where they needed to go.

Ianto quickly adjusted to life as a Torchwood Four agent. He started out managing their cover, an antique store. Ianto had at first thought that such was a cover was a bit arbitrary, but Cameron quickly explained its significance. Having an antique store where people could resell their antiques would enable Torchwood to obtain artifacts from the rift, as such things that had been passed down in old Belfast families or that people had found and were simply trying to pawn off as antiques. Ianto was able to track down many items from the rift in this way, and often thought to himself that he definitely enjoyed running this store much more than he did the Tourist Office back in Cardiff. He gained more responsibilities quickly, eventually picking up some work that had once been Aoife's so that she could do more work with the computer system, which had become her specialty.

Ianto grew quite close to Aoife, as well as Megan, and he soon found out that the two were a couple. Apparently a year or so after the Shift, Megan had asked Aoife out and they had been together ever since. While Ianto was saving to rent an apartment he stayed in theirs and out of the team, he remained the closest to them even after moving out.

While Ianto eventually came to thrive at Torchwood Four, he couldn't help but miss his old life. It had been demeaning, sure, and nothing, not even his relationship with the man he loved, was ever set in stone, but it was _his_ life, not something that he had been pulled into by force. It had been familiar. It had adventure. It had _Jack_.

Since Jack he had tried to move on. Megan and Aoife encouraged him to get out and enjoy himself, and he tried. He had gone out on the pull several times and ended up in the beds of a few men, and even a couple of women. And it had been great, sometimes amazing. But every time, something just didn't feel right, and in the end the person lying next to him was just another warm body that Ianto would never see again after that night. He would go home in the morning feeling just a little bit lonelier than he had the day before.

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><p><strong>15 March 2010<strong>

This loneliness was felt the entire team after Charlotte died.

It had been sudden. One cool morning Cameron had come into work early to find her dead on the floor, a sealed glass tube not far away labeled in a shaky hand: DO NOT OPEN.

After calling the rest of the team in, Cameron played back the CCTV recording of what had happened.

Charlotte had been on the night shift, and one of the many pieces of "rift junk" stored in the basement had released as lethal gas which she was able to contain, but not before breathing in enough for it to be fatal. Over the CCTV they heard her choke out "Sorry, guys," just before collapsing.

Headquarters was quiet, the computer station left unmanned. When this continued for about a week, during which the team did not respond to a single call, Ianto decided to do something.

The team was seated idly in the lounge area of the headquarters' first floor when Ianto came in from the antique store to make coffee. Instead of going back to the store after handing it out, like he always did, Ianto stayed, standing in the middle of the lounge area.

"What are we doing?" He asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

When no one responded he took a deep breath.

"No, don't answer that. I know. Nothing. We're doing _nothing_."

"No, we're not!" Cameron finally piped up. We're…drinking your coffee, and I was upstairs doing some admin before…"

"When was the last time you went out on a call?" Ianto interrupted.

Cameron sighed. "Two weeks ago," he replied, resigned.

"Exactly. Would Charlotte want us to leave the city at the rift's mercy? I sure wouldn't want Jack and Gwen to do that after…" He froze unable to finish that thought. How were they? Was there even a Torchwood anymore?

He was pulled out of his reverie by a touch, something brushing across his hand. Looking up, he saw that Aoife now stood beside him. She didn't speak, but smiled, encouraging him.

"I've lost teammates, and so have you. I lost two of my best friends in one night, and Jack told Gwen and I that the end is where we start from," he looked up at Cameron, who was listening intently. "And starting tomorrow, I'll go out on calls with you if you need the extra hand that Charlotte provided."

Cameron simply nodded.

"And Aoife could manage the computer system. She's been getting good at it," Megan said, smiling at her partner, who shrugged humbly.

"E-excellent idea," was all that Cameron could say.

Over the next few months Ianto gained lots of experience in the field, and began accompanying Cameron quite frequently. It was on one such occasion that his life changed forever.

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><p><strong>13 September 2010<strong>

The rift readings seemed innocent enough; large mass, possible life form. Bring sedation and containment equipment. Cameron and Ianto went to an abandoned warehouse not far from the one that the latter was discovered in expecting a Murak, a harmless purple cat-like creature, or something similar.

What they didn't expect was a very large, very angry bear-like creature with fangs and sharp claws.

It lunged at Ianto first, claws slicing through his throat with a chilling savagery before doing the same to Cameron.

With what little strength he had left, Cameron shot his gun, missing the creature and frightening it away.

While he did this, Ianto lay sprawled on the warehouse floor, the now familiar darkness beginning to creep over his senses.

_This is it, _he thought as Cameron fell next to him. _I'm not coming back this time…_

The last thing he heard was Aoife shouting frantically over the comms "Ianto? Ianto!" before he was lost to the world once more.

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><p>AN: CLIFFHANGER! I'm kind of proud of this ending, but the rest of this chapter…well, why don't you just review and tell me? ;)

Regarding Ianto's sexuality: Despite the show's _writers'_ confusion over this, Ianto is bisexual. Ianto is not gay, and it's not "only Jack." The Torchwood novel _Twilight Streets_ confirms this. I personally believe that every member of the original team was/is bisexual, but that's not the case with Belfast. Aoife and Megan are lesbians.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	5. Lazarus

A/N: I'm back! And this time with TWO chapters. I didn't want to publish this all as one eight-page chapter, so I divided it in two to publish one after the other. We will be back in the present (and on to Jack and Ianto's reunion) very soon!

Thank you for your continued support!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, but if you're still watching after COE, catch it tonight if you can! (I can't because I don't get Starz :( .)

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><p>Chapter 5: Lazarus<p>

Ianto thought the pain he felt was probably just a normal part of dying, though he thought he'd experienced enough of it when he'd been attacked. Then the pain persisted and persisted until he felt air rush into his lungs and jerked back into life. He was assailed by his senses, by the darkness of the warehouse, by the pain of…well, dying, and by the sounds of Cameron dying next to him.

He heard a breathless laugh come from the somewhere to his right and turned his head to see Cameron smiling, his eyes half open.

"I knew… always…knew…"he gasped, his voice barely a whisper.

Ianto scrambled to a sitting position, looking down at Cameron as his life deserted him. "What? Always knew what?"Ianto asked, his voice rising in an urgent panic.

"You're just like… _him_…" Ianto could hear the italics in his voice as it diminished, his eyes misting over with death.

That's when it hit Ianto. He looked down at his hand, as though doubting that it was real. He wiggled his fingers, seeing if they would respond. He had just died and _woken up_.

That's when he collapsed, head in his hands.

He supposed he should have seen the signs. All of the cuts he'd gotten while shaving that somehow healed by the time he had finished, the fact that he'd never needed to see Megan for anything…

_I _am_ just like him_, he thought, knowing whether to sob or smile, though he was leaning toward the former. _I can't die_.

* * *

><p>A short while later Megan and Ryan arrived in Aoife's car. They entered the warehouse with body bags and blank faces which quickly changed their expressions when they saw Ianto Jones stifling sobs over Cameron's body, very much alive.<p>

Ryan immediately readied his gun, pointing it at his coworker's back, who had not noticed the two as of yet.

"Ryan, put that down," Megan hissed quietly, trying not to disturb her friend.

"I heard him die," Ryan replied in a stage whisper, his face set in a determined expression.

Ianto mumbled something that neither could hear. Megan moved to go to him, but was stopped by Ryan's hand on her arm.

"You don't know if it's safe," Ryan insisted. "It could be some sort of rift trick."

"I know my friend when I see him," Megan replied, her face flushed with anger. "And in case you forgot, _I _am now the chief officer of Torchwood Four, not you, as such, I demand that you release me."

Ryan reluctantly complied, and Megan walked slowly toward Ianto. Bending down and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, she asked gently "what was that you said before, Ianto?"

"I-I can't die," he replied, his voice shaking. "There's no use shooting, it-it won't do any good." Then, looking at Megan, he said "I'm just like _him_."

Megan gave a small nod of understanding.

"Ryan, help me get Cameron in the back of the van. You drive him back to headquarters; Ianto will come home with me. That's an order," she added, seeing Ryan's trepidation.

Ryan did as he was told, leaving as soon as Cameron's body was secure at Megan's insistence. Only then did Ianto break down and allow himself to cry. Megan pulled him close, rubbing his back comfortingly in a way that Ianto wished his mother had done.

"Let's go home," Megan whispered, and it was all that Ianto could do just to nod.

* * *

><p>"When I was lying there all I could think was its over. Done. No more. But it never is."<p>

Ianto was now seated at Megan and Aoife's kitchen table with a hot mug of coffee (despite the obscenely late hour) and both women looking at him with concern. His face was red and blotchy, his eyes tired and dry from crying.

"I always suspected, but was never sure," Megan said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Ianto asked, suddenly alert and curious.

"I didn't want to say anything because I thought it might upset you, but it was always a possibility. Your resurrection was a mystery to all of us, and the best explanation I could think of was that the energy from the rift revived you. Only…it can't be reversed. You are a part of reality itself Ianto. Your existence is a permanent fact."

"Just like him." Ianto said. It was no longer a whimper or a whisper, but a statement.

"Yes. Just like him," Megan replied solemnly.

"Why did Cameron say that? I mean, did he know…?"

"After starting in Glasgow he was transferred to Cardiff for a few months. He and Jack worked together. Said he'd never forget it," Megan smiled to herself for a moment. "Aoife met him, too."

"Really?" Ianto asked, curious.

"Aye, it was some sort of UNIT training after I'd just started. He wouldn't stop flirting," Aoife blushed. "Didn't realize how far out of his league I was,"

"Nothing's out of Jack's league," Ianto chuckled, but not without a hint of sadness.

"Just think of it this way," Megan said, putting her hand over his. "Now you have forever to find him."

* * *

><p><strong>8<strong>**th ****July, 2011**

Ianto may have had forever, but everyone knew that no one else did.

This came into sharp focus the night the rift swallowed up three warehouses on the outskirts of Belfast. The whole team was called in to investigate, but they didn't realize that the rift had performed a tradeoff, replacing the warehouses with a live alien explosive.

Ryan immediately set to work diffusing it, but the countdown was quick. Megan stood close, overseeing his work anxiously while Aoife and Ianto, the lower officers, waited from a safe distance.

Then it detonated and Ryan and Megan were obliterated in a blaze of fire. Ianto grabbed Aoife and shielded her from the blast as the two of them being struck to the ground.

"Megan! Megan! NO! Please, no!" Aoife cried as she struggled for freedom from Ianto's arms. But the Welshman was strong, and held on to her as if his life depended on it until the blast cleared.

The fire department was called in to put out the fire, and there was nothing left to fill the body bags with. Off to the side Ianto held Aoife, tears leaving clean tracks on their otherwise ash-covered faces as she continued to weep incoherently.

* * *

><p>It was almost an hour before Aoife could stop crying enough to speak clearly and even longer before she stopped crying altogether. The death of two Torchwood officers in such a huge event was a small tragedy, and the funerals found Ianto and Aoife swimming through seas of lilies and carnations. He stayed with her for a few weeks after Megan's death. One morning Ianto woke up and dressed for work only to find the kitchen, where Aoife would normally sit and read the paper, empty. He went into Aoife's room to find her crying into Megan's pillow.<p>

Slowly, Ianto reached out a hand, tentatively resting it on Aoife's shoulder.

"Aoife?" Ianto asked gently.

"It's been a week… but it still smells like her…" Aoife muttered.

"Aoife, she's gone."

There was a pause, during which both of them sniffled before Ianto continued.

"But people will remember her, Aoife. In my world, I'm just a name on a list."

"But that doesn't _change_ anything," Aoife cried, turning to face Ianto. "Megan's still gone Ianto."

"I miss her, too, Aoife," Ianto replied, his eyes red. "You two were the closest thing that I had to family in this world, and I hate to say it, but you're a hell of a lot better than my real one," Ianto chuckled darkly. "But would she want you to let Torchwood die and Belfast go to the rift?"

"Since when is that my job?" Aoife asked, genuinely surprised.

"Well, you _are_ Torchwood Four's most senior officer now. So naturally you're now our leader…"

Aoife hung her head. "You think I can just do that? You think I can take on the love of my life's job, especially after it _killed_ her? I can't Ianto, I just can't."

Ianto sighed. "Aoife, at least take some time to think…"

"No, Ianto. I made up my mind the moment she died. I'm never going out in the field again. And besides, you were going to be Torchwood Four's leader sooner or later…"

"Don't say that!" Ianto interrupted, though he was not quite sure why. She was telling the truth.

"Nobody ever said anything, but we all knew. _You _knew," she emphasized. Then putting her hand on Ianto's she continued. "Besides, you've proven yourself to be more than capable as a leader here. You helped us out of our rut after Charlotte died, and have kept at this ever since. I know you can do it, Ianto." And for the first time in what seemed like years, Aoife's face shifted into something that seemed like a smile.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm not sure if this is my best, so please review telling me!

Thanks for reading! Now on to the next chapter!


	6. Shreya

A/N: And now for Part 2 of tonight's update! This chapter deals with Shreya's recruitment. I didn't want to do a whole chapter devoted to an OC, as that is venturing dangerously close to Mary Sue territory, but it seemed like the best way to divide it up. Also, the rest of this fic does take place in the future. This is because it takes place after the new season and seemed to fit best that way.

Once again thank you for supporting me and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own Torchwood. If I did, I'd be able to watch the new series :(

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Shreya<p>

**9****th February ****, 2012**

Victoria Square was burning.

Yet another alien explosive device had detonated, sending the complex up in flames. Ianto stood outside with a squad of police, surveying the blaze with terror. It brought back the horrors of Canary Wharf, of his friends screaming in pain as they breathed their last…

But he had to go in. Hundreds, if not thousands of lives depended on him, and it wasn't as if _his_ was in jeopardy.

"Commence rescue," he commanded, and in a flash of blue he and the squad were transported into the blazing complex.

Terror once again gripped Ianto, and he was momentarily paralyzed with fear.

A voice, that of one of his men, jarred him from this. "Sir, we have to move," it insisted, and move he did. In their protective suits, he and the police moved through the halls, finding survivors and teleporting them back to safety. On his third trip, by which time most survivors had been evacuated, Ianto came upon a kneeling young woman near a collapsed beam, who appeared to be protecting something.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but we need you to evacuate the premises immediately," Ianto said officially.

"She's in no condition to travel, and I'm not leaving without her," the woman replied. Ianto noted her accent, definitely London, but with a hint of something… Eastern, like Hindi. She turned to Ianto, and moved aside to reveal a young girl, no more than eight, who was apparently unconscious and had a leg trapped beneath the wreckage.

"I realize that the building could collapse at any moment," the woman continued, reading Ianto's thoughts. "But I'm a doctor, and… I just can't let her die like that."

Ianto was amazed by this woman's selflessness, and pressed to action by her courage.

"She won't," Ianto replied. "Let me help."

After calling in several officers, Ianto and the doctor managed to move enough rubble to remove the trapped girl. Upon further inspection, the doctor decided that her leg was crushed. After stabilizing the leg, the team, doctor and patient teleported out and the girl was immediately put on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

With the firemen quenching the blaze and the building thoroughly inspected, Ianto turned to the young doctor.

"Thank you," he said, truly meaning it.

"I suppose _I_ should be thanking _you_," she replied. "If it wasn't for you we both might've died."

"I try my best," Ianto replied with a slight smile. "But you stood by her…"

"It's what I had to do," the woman replied. "I couldn't have left her there in good conscience."

"And I'm glad you didn't," Ianto replied. "By the way, I never caught your name."

"Shreya Patel," the woman replied before disappearing into the crowd of emergency personnel. "_Dr_. Shreya Patel."

* * *

><p>The following morning, after less than two hours of sleep, Ianto trudged into headquarters. The leadership duties of Torchwood Four, as well as his responsibilities as its only field agent, had begun to take a toll on him. Something had to be done.<p>

He found Aoife, who was habitually early, clacking away at her keyboard.

"Do you stand by your decision to not do field work?" Ianto asked somewhat delicately.

"Wholeheartedly," she responded. "I feel much better directing from behind a desk."

"I thought so," Ianto replied, somewhat to himself. "In that case, I'm going to have to hire."

"Ianto, please," Aoife sighed, almost begging. "I don't think I can deal with replacements so soon…"

"It's been seven months, Aoife," Ianto replied testily. "Seven months that I've had to deal with the rift alone. It's not a one-man job, Aoife, even for me. What if I get killed in action? Who's going to deal with the threat while I'm incapacitated? And besides," he looked at her meaningfully. "A new agent would _never_ be a replacement," he said. "I never considered myself anyone's replacement, and as far as I know, nobody else did."

"They didn't," Aoife replied, her eyes rimmed red.

"I'm going to hire someone new, and I think I've found the perfect candidate. Is that alright with you?" he asked gently.

"Aye," she replied.

* * *

><p><strong>21<strong>**st**** February, 2012**

Shreya breathed a sigh of relief as she exited Belfast City Hospital. The morning had been exhausting and she was more than ready for her lunch break. Yet not a minute after this she found herself colliding with someone and falling onto the pavement, the contents of her bag scattering in every direction.

"Oh, bollocks! Ma'am I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," the man who had bumped into Shreya exclaimed as he bent down to help her reclaim her belongings.

"It's alright. I'm still in one piece," she replied jokingly. Then, catching a glimpse of the man's face, she suddenly became curious.

"Do I know you?" She asked.

"Jones, Ianto Jones. Torchwood," he replied automatically, then, after a moment of thought, his eyes seemed to light up. "Oh, yes! I remember now! You were there at Victoria's Square with that girl! Dr. Shreya Patel, it's a pleasure to see you again." He held out his hand to help her up, and she accepted it.

"You were the rescue worker who got us out," Shreya recalled.

"Not just any rescue worker," Ianto replied, feigning offense. "But that's another story. Come on, I'll treat you to lunch."

Shreya was shocked. "Lunch? But…"

"Oh, come now, you're on break, aren't you?" Ianto asked, the question mark a courtesy.

"Well…yes…"

"Then come on!"

* * *

><p>"So what happened to the girl?" Ianto asked over Italian.<p>

"Oh, she's doing very well. Apparently she got separated from her mum in the confusion, but we found her soon enough. She's on the mend right now, at home with a cast."

"That's great," Ianto replied.

"So, you said you work for Torchwood?" Shreya asked after a long, chewing-filled pause.

"Yes. I'm the leader as a matter-of-fact," Ianto replied.

"Wow," Shreya replied. "Aliens, explosives, parallel universes… must be tough."

"You have no idea," Ianto replied. "And there are only two of us. The job's tough, but someone has to do it. And hey, you saved that girl two weeks ago. Imagine saving the city nearly every day."

"What are saying?" Shreya asked. She was beginning to catch on.

"I'm saying we have an opening, Shreya," Ianto replied, emphasizing the use of her first name. "Do you want it?"

The doctor thought for a moment. "I suppose any normal person would ask for your number and call you back in a few days with their decision, and any sane person would turn you down," both of them laughed. "But I've never been normal, and some have called me insane. Yes, I do want the job."

Ianto smiled. "Excellent. You can start tomorrow. We'll go over the particulars then."

* * *

><p>"You hired a <em>DOCTOR<em>?"

Though this was whispered, its status as an exclamation was more than apparent to Ianto. He had just arrived at work and broken the news of the new employee to Aoife, who was less than pleased.

"She saved that girl's life, Aoife, and she's way more than qualified. Polite, brave, she practically walked through fire for a stranger. Not to mention a medical school education. And she's _not_ replacing Megan in any way."

Aoife still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"It's for the best, Aoife," he sighed. "Just try to make nice."

At that moment they heard the antique store door jingle, and a tentative "hello?" came over the monitoring system from the store.

"Here she is," Ianto smiled, and released the secret wall hatch. A young woman, who was not altogether unappealing, reacted with a start before walking forward.

"Hi," she said nervously, but cheerfully. She held out a hand to Aoife. "I'm Dr. Shreya Patel, the new agent."

She didn't say replacement.

Aoife forced a smile and shook her hand.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you liked it!

I'm sorry for the burning of Victoria Square, but the writers of the actual show did blow up Cardiff City Centre. Besides, it's being rebuilt!

Also, I hope Shreya's not too Sue-ish. If you think so, please let me know.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	7. Night Watch

A/N: I'm not dead!

Sorry about the long wait, but this chapter refused to be written. Also, I'm a procrastinator and was actually kind of busy this past month.

Anyway, this chapter sets a few things up for the rest of the story. Sorry, no reunion yet, but that's coming very soon! Well, sooner than this chapter at least.

Also, I mean no offense to any religion in this chapter, and I apologize if it's not my best. I know that I've done better and that it's very disjointed. Please Review telling me what I can do better!

Disclaimer: If I owned Torchwood, I would know by now whether or not this story had been jossed yet.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Night Watch<p>

The air at HQ was tense that night. No one had anywhere to go, as their flats were all rented in this universe, so they tried to get what sleep they could in the lounge, keeping watch on the rift in turns.

When Aoife went to relieve Ianto, she found him staring into space, lost in thought.

"Ianto, are you alright?" She asked after several moments.

"I just can't help but wonder… I know it's probably just some hopeless fancy, but… I can't help but wonder if…if _he'll_ be here tomorrow," Ianto replied, never breaking his gaze.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you there," Aoife replied with a hint of regret. "All the other officer said was that their medic and leader are booked on the 9:43 flight from Cardiff to Aldergrove, arriving at 10:11."

"Medic…that's _definitely_ Martha," he said with a smile "but the leader… it _could_ be him," Ianto mused, "But it'll more likely be Gwen or someone I don't even know. Who knows where Jack is? The Hub is gone… only God knows where he is now."

Aoife did not reply. The strange, sorrowful silence continued for several long moments before Ianto spoke again, his voice heavy with feelings he didn't dare name.

"And even if… even if it _is_ him," Ianto began, pausing to regain his composure. "What will I do? What will I say? Four years is a long time, and the way things ended… could we really just pick up where we left off? For all I know he should be shagging the new temp or something."

"You'll just have to take things as they come, love," Aoife said, attempting to soothe the Welshman, who was now on the brink of tears. "And if you don't sleep, you'll be too much of a wreck to go to the airport and _then_ where will we be?"

Ianto gave a small, sad smile. "I suppose you're right. I'll have to sleep on it, then," and with that, he went over to the couch to try to do just that.

* * *

><p>The world had gone cock-eyed for Shreya. In a matter of moments she had been ripped from everything that she knew-a family that she didn't talk to, a city that wasn't hers, and technology that she didn't use- and dropped into an even less familiar world.<p>

All she had were Ianto and Aoife.

It was getting harder to control herself around Aoife. She'd felt the pull early on, but she could see that the older woman was still grieving over something (Ianto wouldn't tell her about Megan for several weeks) and decided to wait. It had been over a year and nothing had changed save the intensity of her feelings, and it had started to show.

Rising from the couch after getting very little sleep, Shreya intended to relieve Aoife without any dialogue save an exchange of "goodnights." When she sat down next to the woman and she made no move to leave, however, her anxiety resurfaced.

"Umm…my turn," Shreya said uncertainly after several moments of silence.

"I know," Aoife answered. "I was just wondering what this must be like for you. It's a shock for us, definitely, but we're coming home after having experienced this before. But you, you've never been through this. I remember how tough it was for us, but…we had each other."

Shreya's resolve was crumbling fast. "Well…it is tough, I guess. I'm worried about this universe and I have no idea what it's like here and I can't help but wonder about my family even though I haven't seen them in forevernowIfeellike…" Shreya's rambling was stopped dead by Aoife's hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding genuine.

And Shreya was sorry, too.

She would never be sure why she did it. Maybe the Shift had left her mind addled, or maybe she was just so distraught she didn't think before she acted, or maybe Aoife just looked _that good_ in the moonlight. She suspected that it was a combination of all three. All Shreya _did_ know was that one moment she was sitting there with Aoife's hand on her shoulder and the next she'd pressed her lips to the older woman's. The kiss was a brief, tender caress of lips, but it was by no means chaste. It contained a passion that Aoife felt deep in her core. She pulled away panting and flushed, the mood changing in an instant.

"Wh- what was that?" Aoife asked, her voice shifting from confused to furious in the space of only a few words.

"I'm so sorry, Aoife. I-I couldn't control myself," Shreya hung her head.

Aoife spoke no reply, but her silent walk to the couch in the lounge area was reply enough.

* * *

><p>Ianto woke for his watch to the sound of sniffling. Walking over to Shreya, he saw that her eyes were rimmed with red, her face blotchy with tears.<p>

"Shreya, what's wrong?" Ianto asked, wrapping an arm around the doctor's back as he sat down.

"Well its just-it's everything, Ianto," Shreya sniffed. "I'm dead to my own world. And-and my parents…" she stopped speaking for a moment, trying to contain her tears.

"What about them, Shreya?" Ianto prompted gently.

"I-I'll never see them again!" She cried this time. "I'll never get to go back and say 'sorry,' to tell them…" her speech was punctuated by a sob.

"Tell them what?" Ianto guided.

"To tell them I'm gay," Shreya replied. "It was stupid, really. Looking back I realize they might have been upset for a little while and then they would get used to the idea. But at the time, I thought that they'd put their religion before their own child, which was incredibly daft of me. My parents may have been very devout, but they had always put me first. I couldn't see that back then, though, and left the first chance I got. We haven't seen each other in years…and now I'll never see them again!"

Ianto saw in Shreya what he himself had felt four years before when he had been ripped from his own dimension. He at least had accepted that he would never see his own world again before that occurred.

Ianto tightened his grip on Shreya, bringing her into an awkward half-hug. He pulled a red handkerchief out of his breast pocket and handed it to her, and she stared at it for a moment before she burst into a fit of laughter.

"Shreya…are you alright?" Ianto asked nervously, frightened by the sudden shift in mood.

When she had collected herself enough to speak, Shreya replied breathlessly. "Ianto I'm fine. It's just that…well, life as we know it could be ending and you still carry a handkerchief!"

"Only three things are certain in life; death, taxes, and that," Ianto said with a smile, his eyes darting to the red cloth. "But something else is on your mind."

Shreya was silent for a moment. Then, she almost whispered "I kissed Aoife."

Ianto's eyes widened."Oh," he said, then, after a pause "Well, I knew it was only a matter of time."

"What? How?" Shreya asked incredulously.

Ianto smiled. "Come on, Shreya. Anyone could tell just by the way you look at her. Just give her some space. She's had it pretty rough these past few years, but I'm sure she'll come around."

Shreya gave a half-hearted grin while Ianto tried to do the same. By soothing her relationship woes (with what he hoped weren't empty promises), he hoped to allay his own. Shreya went to the lounge to sleep, leaving Ianto to his thoughts of what the next day might bring.

* * *

><p>Well? Was it worth a month's wait?<p>

I apologize if it wasn't, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter, when the story really kicks in!

Don't forget to review, and thanks for all of your great feedback!


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